Full question:
I have been nominated as executor of my mother's Will. My brothers have hired an attorney to contest my mother's nomination. Their attorney has sent me a letter demanding me to immediately forward copies of any and all documents and banking information that I removed from my mother's house. My question is since I shared a joint banking account with my mother, and since I entered my mother's house while I had Durable Power of Attorney, Immediate, she was still alive and had instructed me to, do I have to comply with the attorney's demands or am I protected by the Joint Account and POA.
- Category: Discovery
- Date:
- State: Rhode Island
Answer:
An attorney's letter is not a formal request enforceable in court. However, they may later send a formal request for documents or a subpoena, which you would need to comply with. During a lawsuit's discovery process, parties can request information that could lead to admissible evidence. If you receive such a request, you can object and seek a protective order if the request is irrelevant, overly broad, or burdensome. If you fail to respond appropriately, the other party may ask the court to compel you to comply and may seek costs or sanctions.
The court may limit discovery if it finds that the requests are cumulative, obtainable from other sources, or overly burdensome considering the case's needs and resources.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.